I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I can't find the answer anywhere.

I'm going to be ordering some 17"x7" wheels soon and the offset for them is +40. Is that too much for our MINIs?

Thanks!

 

No it is fine should work well with a 205/215 tire. I have 40 offset on my 16s and 45-48 is on my two sets of factory wheel.

If you go below 37, you might have some problems.

Don

 

If your car is stock height it should be no problem.

I ran 225/45/17 with 17"x7" wheels with a 43 offset and they are very close on the inside (tire to spring) with about 1" lowering -- but it works!

Remember when you go with a larger tire like this you may be increasing the diameter of the tire and the weight of the tire wheel -- this will hurt the MINIs acceleration and handling.

I am in the process of going back to light weight 15" wheels/tires that are smaller diameter to help acceleration and handling.

My new wheels are Team Dynamics Pro Race 2 - 15x7 with 35 offset and 225/45/15 tires. Lighter and smaller diameter with the same contact patch.

 

The wheels I want to get (Enkei Permormance Imola) are 20.4 lbs, 17x7.5, and the tire size is 205/45/17. I know they're quite a bit heavier than my current OEM wheels, but will they really affect performance that much?

The whole package with TPMS and the tires is right in my price range (~$1200) for a wheel I really like. Is there something that would be a better 17" wheel around the same price for the whole setup? Also, my area is full of HUGE potholes, so I don't really want something too light that I'm going to bend easily.

http://www.tirerack.com/upgrade_gara...=Black+Painted

 

The side wall height of the tire (the cushion) is what protects the wheel from pot hole damage.

The good news: the 205/45/17 is pretty close to the same diameter of the oem wheels/tires so acceleration will not be affected very much. And the side wall while less is still decent height to protect on the potholes.

The bad news is the 20 lbs wheel and a 22 lbs tire = 42 lbs your oem tires and wheels weight approx 28 lbs. So handling will be a little less nimble as you are adding about 14 lbs a corner in un-sprung weight.

If you do not drive the car really hard in the the twisties you probably will be happy with your choice if you are concerned shop for lighter wheels and tires.

 

Thanks for your help.

I think I will buy them.. I drive "spirited" most of the time but I never take the car to the track and I don't really have many twisty roads to drive on around here.